Appearance: Poured a clear whiskey amber (About 8-9 on the lovibond) brew with rocky two finger head which slowly fades into a moderate cap. Perceived effervescence is low. Lacing is almost non-existent leaving just one or two string-thin foam marks.

Smell: Nose is of Caramel and Peat smoked malt. The caramel dominates the smell. Can't pickup any hops. Nose is of medium strength.

Taste: Overwhelming caramel taste with Peat malt backbone and some cider like notes. Can't pick up any hops. The alcohol is noticeable and complemented with the overall sweetness of the beer gives out an almost medicinal like flavor. Slight Peat malt bitterness. Sweet aftertaste which lingers for awhile. Can't say it's well balanced, the caramel sweetness dominates the beer profile to the point where it becomes coying. Could use more peat-malt character and less caramel and maybe a more pronounced hop presence.

Mouthfeel: Medium body. Medium to High carbonation. Clean and smooth on the palate.

Drinkability: Not an easy beer to drink, the sweetness is almost overwhelming and the whiskey malt makes it even more of a difficult beer.

On a final note: I was expecting alot more peat malt character, and wasn't prepared for such a sweet brew. I was also a bit disappointed regarding the bitterness. It's an awkward beer, but i was expecting worse actually. Won't be having again.

More User Reviews:

Clear bottle, makes me angry. It always makes think that the brewer just doesn't care. Pours a bright golden color with reddish highlights complete with a large over carbonated bubbly head.

Smells skunky. Kind of a red wine nose with a lot of funk to it.

Taste is very different from the smell. There is no skunkish taste but a gigantic sweetness. It has a thin body and a very grape wine fruitiness that is saccharine sweet. A very processed sugary cider flavor. Nothing in this reminds me of anything like whiskey except an oak, earthy hint. There is no hop taste or bitterness.

A terrible smell but an interesting flavor. Not anything I would like to try again because its too sweet. I think a more pronounced oak smokiness and less sugary fruit flavor would make this one a decent drink. As it is now this one should be avoided.

A: The beer appeared a deep, clear golden color, kind of reminded me of the color of some scotch whisky, with a slightly off white head that was not well retained.

S: The aroma is sweet, caramel possibly, with some earthy overtones and a hint of alcohol. The aroma is of moderate strength.

T: Dominate caramel/sweet flavor to it, but also the peaty whisky astringent flavor is very noticeable. No hops to speak of. Not very well balanced, the sweetness really dominates and detracts greatly from the drinkability of the beer.

M/D: The beer had a medium body to it. It felt sticky, but was smooth and the carbonation was about right, maybe slightly too much. Again, the sweetness of the beer really detracted from the drinkability, it could really be more like an after dinner drink/beer, but there are better.

A couple years ago two of my good friends went on a long vacation across Europe enjoying the culture, sites, culinary works, and beer. They came back and told me great stories of historic cities and amazing parties, but also fantastic beer - no surprise there. There was one beer which they kept raving on about, comparing it to the Innis & Gunn, which is one of our favorite beers. They both claimed that this beer called Adelscott was built in the same manner and the Innis, but even better! I do love the Innis, it is one of the beers that showed me the light - since this trip I have been aching to find this mysterious Adelscott.

And of course, as stories of this nature go, it is not available anywhere in North America. Adelscott is brewed by Fischer in France, and seems to not enjoy the sea voyage. I conceded temporary defeat until a friend of mine was heading to Europe this summer on a one month backpacking trip. I gave him a list of a few beers to look out for in every county he would visit, and I was sure to include Adelscott. The great man that he is brought me back this can, and helped me realize a beer dream now two years old.

Adelscott and the Innis & Gunn are similar, however quite different. The Innis is a rich Scottish pale ale aged in bourbon barrels, where the Adelscott is brewed with peat smoked barley, and is not aged in barrels at all. So Innis gets its whisky character from oak, Adelscott from barley - an interesting comparison nonetheless. The Adelscott I had was 5.8% abv, however I have seen bottles that list 6.4%.

I opened the Adelscott up cool around 8C (45F) and poured it into a stemmed beer glass. The pour was easy and smooth building a lush white foam in the beer instantly. I slowed the pour a bit and let the slightly creamy texture of the beer build on its own power. The final beer was glowing brilliantly bright gold with a backbone of yellow and sunny orange. It was really very beautiful, and was strikingly bright and crisp with an amber lining and sunshine rays all throughout. A dense and airy 2 inch pure white head was build with a creamy cap - it showed very strong retention, but did eventually dissipate completely. The overall picture here was very pretty. A great start.

The nose was pretty damn close to exactly what I wanted. Where the Innis bring to you the rich caramel and vanilla flavors of the oak, the Adelscott showed me sugary sweet pale malts, and the distinct clean flavor of peat smoked whisky. Thats what you get with this beer; the smooth and clasic flavor of peat smoke. It is gentle and balanced sweet by pale malts and lingers lightly on your nose. It was so obvious when I smelled it that I wanted more. The connection to a peaty smooth whisky is magical, my only complaint is that I would love an imperial version around 10%.

The first sip was a masterpiece for me. Ignoring the peat for a moment, the Adelscott opens with smoothly crisp and very distinct pale malt sweetness. Sugary malts and honey play over your palate and lightly candied fruits emerge as well. Sweet apples and pears melt into your cheeks, and a soft malty backbone coats your palate. But the game changer here is the smoothness of a old friend names Speyside. Elegantly clean peated malts show up on the front of your tongue and back of your throat.

This was the trick, the peat and whisky flavor is clean and delicate, but obvious and balanced. There is barely any hop aroma or flavor at all to add a bitter side to the beer - it is the peat and malt balance than makes this beer work. The finish is smooth and light with a slightly sweet, almost sugary malt end. The peaty whisky comes back, but its short and quenching. The mouthfeel was light and creamy, and fit this beer very well.

I loved the 5.8% version as a session beer, if it was availbale at the LCBO, I would always have a few in my fridge. I would love to see an imperial version for sipping somewhere in the 8 to 12% range. But for now, I'll have to keep searching for more of the Adelscott.

Finally taste far from extraordinary, slightly watery with just a taste a little smoky, which is still a highlight for a Rauchbier. It also collects a small taste safety with the addition of sugar and dye immondemment and unnecessarily added. Peaty malt whiskey and smoked to excess is touted commercially then you do not feel almost. It's just if you feel the beer. Caramel color and nose in the same way except that it does not come from a caramel malt but more likely a dye or an addition. So certainly it is easy to drink but taste level is nothing.

The label reads: "The malt used to brew this beer is peat-smoked according to the procedures used for the production of whiskey." Furthermore the label reveals that this beer contains sugar, corn, and caramel in addition to the usual ingredients. I've only had one other peat malt beer before, which was a homebrew, and it was actually pretty good.

Except for the head, Adelscott sure looks like scotch, with a crystal clear orange-copper color, but it really doesn't have much in the way of a scotch aroma. There is a caramel sweetness followed by a noticeable peat smoke aftertaste. Altogether it's not an unpleasant flavor combination, but it is a little odd. Doubtless the people at Fischer felt the peatiness needed all that sugar to bring things back into balance.

The beer poured with a good head, but there was something about the way it poured that made me think it would be bad. It had a very smoky smell, but also quite skunky. It had me wondering if the clear bottle had somehow made it go bad.

The taste was an experience I will not soon forget, although I have tried. It was very sweet and smoky, with a strong taste of peat moss and dirt. The only way I can describe it is to imagine sucking a Budweiser through a peat moss flowerpot.

I am very glad I was able to buy a single of this one, and as it was I only took 2 sips before throwing the rest out. The first was to taste, the second was because I couldn't believe how bad it tasted. If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be ghastly.

The color is a burnt caramel, bourbon color with a very thin white head. Fair amounts of lacing and bubbles running up the sides.

Smelled of sweet malt, smoke, char, whiskey, and whiskey barrels. I love whiskey, but this smells a bit too sweet, almost like cheep whiskey, but not quite rotgut.

Taste is much better than the smell. Taste of caramel, sweet malt, alcohol, peat, and char. The alcohol seemed a bit strong for 6.4% and it was a bit sweet, but again I like whiskey. My wife said it tasted like a Diet Dr. Pepper, and I like Dr. Pepper, but didn't quite make that association.

Medium body with medium-high carbonation. Very different from your average beer and certainly not for everybody. I liked it though.

A - Light blond, fluffy, soapy white head. Lots of visible carbonation, but little retention.
S - Mostly just boozy and quite sour, with an odd sort of sweetness.
T - Quite odd tasting, very sweet and nutty. Sort of like a watery, overcarbonated version of a mix between a cheap whiskey and a cheaper amaretto.
M - Quite thick and heavy bodied aided a little by the carbonation.
D - I could barely finish it.

Flavor: creamy malt sweetness with low to no hop flavor or bitterness, slight acidity, twinge of peat but not enough to be off-puttting, finishes semi-sweet with a slight aftertaste like artificial sweetener and leather

The Alsatian brewery Fischer tries to produce foreign beers: Adelscott is a beer brewed with whisky malt, but made in Strasbourg, France (Desperados is a tequila flavored beer that tries to sound Mexican but thats produced in Strasbourg, France too, but thats a different story). The soft head lasted longer than I expected and looked actually quite nice on the orange color body. The smell was quite interesting; very malty and earthy, with nice notes of smoke, some smoked bacon (hmmm), some pleasant cow dung/ barn notes and some fresh-cut grass. I appreciated the taste less than the smell. Still malty, sweet, earthy, fresh and smoky. But, whereas after the first sip youre like this is innovative (the label says Adelscott, the different beer), after a while I thought this is getting boring. My pint was hard to finish. Mouthfeel is round and a bit creamu, quite smooth, but a bit weak, close to being watery. Still, I don't regret the fact that I bought this beer.

This brew pours a deep golden-yellow. The head is brief, standing around half a finger high. No lacing is left around the glass. It is white and composed of medium sized bubbles that dance around with the apparently active carbonation. There is no haze or sediment affecting the clarity, giving solid translucency. As promised by the label the aroma is predominated by malts and the smoky peat character of whisky. While these notes are fairly robust they fail to mask the adjuncts and sugary sweetness hiding beneath. As we sip, malts and a marshmallow sweetness crash up front. The smokiness lashes at the tip of the tongue, becoming fully apparent through the middle. The middle otherwise continues with white sugar. The finish is fully peat smoked malts, robustly combining with cloying sweetness, and little else. The aftertaste breathes a bit smoky, but is primarily an air of pale malts and continuing sweetness. The body is medium and the carbonation is medium. The feel to each sip is palpable with carbonation, contributing to the foaminess of the beer. There is little coating, and the drying smokiness leaves the mouth more similar to the astringent side of things, but not particularly dried. The beer is a bit watery, and the feel is otherwise standard. The abv is within range and the beer drinks more slowly due to the cloying sugariness.

Overall, what we enjoyed most about this brew was how the peat smoking grows by the end of the sip. While it is expected in the style, the flavor of robust smoke is always interesting when introduced to the palate within beer, and to this it did not disappoint. What was displeasing, however, was how overly sweet the beer was, and how any cutting bitterness that could have been was lost among it. To summate, this beer tasted like a toasted marshmallow that fell into the campfire. Edible but interesting.